Cloth-singeing machine.



PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904.

J. EDMUN-DS.

CLOTH SINGEING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.22, 1903.

3 SHEETS-8HEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

m\ .H. H. L

t w m I No. 770,274. PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904. J. EDMUNDS.

CLOTH SINGEING MACHINE.

3 0 9 1 2 2 m flu Q ary plate or revolving cylinder.

llNiTED STATES Patented September 20, 1904.

PATENT EEicE.

CLOTH-SINGEING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,274, dated September 20, 1904.

Application filed October 22, 1903. Serial No. 178,035. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern..-

Be itknown that I, JOHN EDMUNDs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of VValtham, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Cloth- Singeing Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to cloth-singeing machines of that class wherein the cloth to be singed is drawn over a heated singe-plate, which may be in the form either of a station- These singeplates have commonly been constructed with a smooth cloth-engaging surface, over which the cloth is drawn by any suitable means. It has been found from practice, however, that with such plates the destruction of the nap of the cloth is due more to dry distillation or charring than to actual combustion, owing to the fact that the smooth surface of the singeplate does not permit sufficient air to enter between the cloth and the plate to support combustion. As a result the singed face of the cloth becomes more or less discolored or smutted, thereby requiring a greater amount of bleaching to whiten it. It has been attempted to obviate this difficulty by making the cloth-engaging surface of the singe-plate with ribs forming between them recesses for the purpose of admitting air to the under side of the cloth to complete combustion. So far as I am aware, however, the only attempt to thus introduce air between the singe-plate and the cloth consisted in forming on the clothengaging surface of the singe-plate a series of parallel ribs extending clear across said plate and having between them air ducts. While this construction will partially overcome the above-mentioned disadvantage incident to the use of a smooth-faced singe-plate, yet it has never proved satisfactory, because the ducts or channels in the singe-plate were entirely independent from each other and the supply of air to support combustion at any point in the channel was obliged to pass in to such point from the end of the channel and in doing so was obliged to move contrariwise to the products of combustion escaping from said point toward the ends of said channel. The result of this construction is that the central portions of the channel, or those farthest from the edges of the cloth, receive almost no fresh air to support combustion, and the same charring or dry distillation of the nap of the cloth occurs as in the use of the smooth-surfaced singe-plate. I have improved these forms of plates by providing my singe-plate with a series of channels and have connected said channels with each other by grooves or air-ducts, so that fresh air can enter said channels, pass to all parts thereof, and the products of combustion escape through the grooves or ducts to other channels, and thus escape. With this construction there is a constant current of air passing in under the cloth from one channel to another through the ducts, and complete combustion of the nap takes place at all points. This obviates all the smutting or discoloration of the cloth due to the construction of the smooth-surfaced plate.

Another feature of my present invention relates to the construction of the heatingchamber, of which the singe-plate forms the top, said chamber being so constructed that the plate can be easily removed when it is necessary to replace it by a new plate without tearing the heating-chamber to pieces, as is the case with many forms of plate singeingmachines now in use.

Still another feature of the invention relates to a novel construction whereby both sides of the cloth may be singed, if desired.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of my improved singeing-machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical sect-ion through one end of the sings-plate and heating-chamber on the line 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of one of the heating-chambers of my improved machine, showing a portion of the head or side of the chamber and the plate in section. Fig. & is a plan view of the singeing-plate. Fig. 5 is a section through the singeing-plate on the line y 1 Fig". i. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a plate having a different shape from that shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a side view of Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is an end view of the plate shown in Fig. 6.

The machine comprises in its general construction one or more heating-chambers the top of which forms the singe-plate and means to draw the cloth to be singed over said plate. Heretofore it has been customary to construct these heating-chambers of brick and to build the singe-plate right into the brick structure, so that to renew a plate necessitated the tearing down of a portion of the brick structure. Inasmuch as the life of a singe-plate rarely exceeds a year, it has been necessary, therefore, to partly destroy and rebuild the heating-chamber again at least once every year.

In my improved machine the heating chamber or chambers are supported upon a suitable frame or foundation 3, which is preferably made of steel or iron work. The walls 4 of the heating chamber or chambers are preferably made of brick or similar material, and each chamber has at each end the head or removable plate 5, said heads being constructed to support the singe-plate 6, which, as usual in this class of devices, forms the top of the heating-chamber. The singe-plate is preferably made with a rounding top or cloth-engaging surface and is provided at its sides with the depending flanges 7 which when the plate is in place rest upon the side walls of the heating-chamber. The heads 5 are detachably secured in place by means of the anchor-pins 8, which are anchored or embedded in the brickwork of the structure and which pass through the heads and have the nuts 9 upon their ends. Each head has on its inner face the singe-plate-retaining groove 10, which is shaped to receive the end of the singe-plate, as shown in Figs. 2 and'3, and by which said plate is retained in place. When it is necessary to remove any singeplate for repairs or any other purpose, it is simply necessary to remove the nuts 9 at one end of the heating-chamber and detach the head 5, when the singe-plate can be withdrawn from the groove in the other head and removed from the machine.

The plate may be heated by any suitable means, and, as shown, one of the heads 5 is provided with one or more apertures 12, through which gas, oil, or any other fluid fuel is injected, the combustion of course taking place within the chamber and beneath the plate 6. The products of combustion are taken from the chamber through the opposite plate and conducted by a pipe 13 to a chamber or tank 14:, which is partially filled with water and from which the air is exhausted by any suitable exhaustion mechanism. The end of the pipe 13 is carried into the tank 14 and slightly below the level of the water, as shown in dotted lines, whereby all the products of combustion which issue from the machine are taken through a body of Water, and thus purified. In the present form of my invention two heating-chambers are employed,which are substantially duplicates of each other, and

means are provided whereby the cloth may be singed either on one or both sides, as desired. The cloth is delivered to the first heating-chamber through a pair of smoothing-rolls 15 and if it"i-s-tcr be singed on one side only is taken said second singe-plate in a direction of the arrow 6,. the cloth after leaving said second plate passing down beneath the frame round the direction-roll 20 and thence to the wettingout machine. This course is indicated by the broken line (Z. In some cases the cloth is singed sufficiently by passing it over one plate only, and in such case the cloth is taken directly from the direction-roll 21 after leaving the first singe-plate to the direction-roll 20 be neath the second heating chamber. This course of the cloth is indicated by the broken line 0.

The singe-plate has formed in its cloth-engaging surface a plurality of channels, which are connected by cross-grooves or airducts. I

Any suitable arrangement of channels and grooves may be employed; but I prefer the arrangement shown in Fig. 4:, as this serves the double purpose of permitting complete combustion of the nap and also of maintaining the cloth in a smooth unwrinkled condition while. it passes over the singe-plate. In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 4 the plate is provided with a plurality of channels 23, which are inclined from the middle of the plate toward either end at an angle of about thirty degrees. The portions of the surface of the plate between the channels are grooved at 240, thus forming ribs 24, the grooves and ribs being inclined at an angle of about thirty degrees on the channels 23, the ribs on one side of the median line of the plate inclining in an opposite direction from those on the opposite side thereof. With this construction the cloth has contact only with the ribs 24 or the portions of the plate between said grooves, and suflicient air passes into the channels 23 and from thence to the grooves between the ribs 24 to permit of an actual and complete combustion of the nap, said channels and grooves also permitting the proper escape of the products of combustion. The result of this construction and operation is that the movement of the cloth over the singe-plate draws air into the channels at the edge of the plate where the cloth first contacts therewith and also at the sides of the plate, and from said channels the air traverses through the ducts to other channels and along the channels beyond the cloth, and therefore IIO there is a constant sheet of air passing in under the cloth at one side of the plate and traversing through the channels and grooves toward the other side thereof. This complete circulation of the air between the cloth and the singe-plate causes complete combustion, and all smutting of the cloth due to the smothered burning or charring of the napincident to the use of a smooth-surfaced plate is avoided, and the cloth comes from the machine with little or no discoloration. A very slight amount of bleaching agent is therefore necessary to whiten the article as compared with the amount necessary in bleaching cloth singed on the smooth-plate machine. The special arrangement of ribs also serves to maintain the cloth in a smooth condition while passing over the plate, and said ribs also assist somewhat in raising the nap, so that the singeing operation is more effective. I prefer to make the ribs 24 with a comparatively sharp tip or edge, since when so constructed they hold the cloth better than if they were flat. It is not absolutely essential to the invention, however, that the ribs be made with a sharp edge. In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a plan view of a plate having a slightly-different shape from that shown in Fig. t, this figure representing the shape of plate which I prefer to use. From Figs. 7 and 8 it will be seen that the ribbed surface extends partly over the flanges 7. In Figs. 4, 6, and 7 I have indicated the position of the ribs merely by the lines in order to avoid confusion in the drawings.

Where the singeing is performed by an actual combustion of the nap instead of a charring thereof, it is not necessary to hold the cloth in engagement with the plate for so long a time to complete the singeing operation, and consequently with my improved form of plate it is possible to run the cloth over the plate at a much higher rate of speed than is possible with the smooth-plate machine. The ribs of the machine, which are outside of the path of the cloth, are prevented by the surrounding air from becoming so hot as to burn the selvagc in case the cloth has a slight traverse. The singe-plate may be made of any suitable material, though I have found from experience that cast-iron gives good results and is preferred on account of its cheapness.

WVhile I have herein shown amachine as embodying two heating-chambers; I wish it understood that one orany number of said chambers may be employed, as circumstances dictate.

The particular arrangement of ribs shown is not essential to the invention, though I regard the illustrated arrangement as preferable. One important feature of the singe-plate is that it has the channels on its surface connected by cross-grooves, so as to permit of perfectly free circulation of air and the consequent complete and actual combustion of the nap between the cloth and the surface of the plate, and another important feature is that the ribs have such a position and direction with reference to the direction of movement of the cloth that the cloth is maintained at its full width, all wrinkles are kept out, and the sclvages are kept from curling. As I believe I am the first to devise a singeingmachine having these features, I desire to claim these broadly.

It will be obvious that many changes in the form and arrangement of the parts may be made without in any way departing from the invention described in the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*

1. A singeplate for a cloth-singeing machine having its cloth-engaging surface provided with channels which are connected by grooves or air-ducts.

2. A singe-plate for a cloth-singeing machine having on its cloth-engaging surface a plurality of parallel channels and grooves connecting said channels.

3. A singe-plate for a cloth-singeing machine having its cloth-engaging surface provided with a plurality of channels arranged at an angle of thirty degrees, and grooves connecting said channels and arranged at an angle of thirty degrees thereto.

4:. A singe-plate for a cloth-singeing machine having on its cloth-engaging surface a plurality of channels, the portion of the plate between the channels being ribbed.

5. A singe-plate for a cloth-singeing ma chine having on its cloth-engaging surface a plurality of channels, the portion of the plate between the channels being provided with ribs which incline to the direction of movement of the cloth.

6. A singe-plate for a cloth-singeing machine having on its cloth-engaging surface a plurality of channels, which are inclined in opposite directions from the median line of the plate, the portions of the plate between said grooves being provided with ribs which are inclined to the direction of movement of the cloth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN EDMUNDS.

Witnesses:

GEO. E. JORDAN, JAS. F. MONAGHAN.

IIO 

